Fontana 11/20 XC race/new bike...help!

Ok. I finally got my bike together. It's an '04 Rumble medium. All the parts are off a Weyless 67 freeride bike. Whole bike weighs 39 pounds according to the old bathroom scale. I am 5'10" 155 so this thing weighs about 1/3 my weight. ugggghh.

I also finally found a riding partner finally that has a 28 pound Cannondale Jekyll. We're both going to enter the Fontana XC race on 11/20/05 together. This will be my first race of any kind on a bike. I'm not planning on placing my first time out. Although i'm in good shape, my bike is one heavy mother. I'm planning on getting Velocity VXC rims front/back and switching out the cranks for XC cranks and changing pedals to clipless as a start.

My bike needs a serious diet. As you might see, I already got an XTR rear derailleur from my friend and an XTR cassette. Also if anyone is interested in buying the wheel/rims/fork/cranks/pedals or handlebar/stem I'm willing to trade or sell for XC type components.

Anyone have any other recommendations on cutting weight? Anyone done this race before? How are the 3 climbs?

I just finished building up a bike myself and plan on racing that race, not sure if I'll do the XC but I know I'll be doing the SuperD. Built a 32lbs Giant VT2 22.5" frame with Avid 8" up front and 6" in the rear with some cheap POS 120mm EnSynce shock that come with my Trek Bruiser.

For your bike,. the best places to shed weight will be the tires, pedals, and the suspension seatpost.

I'm not sure what tire combo you're running, but I like running a fat 2.35 Kenda Sticky E up front and a Small rear tire like a IRC Mythos. The front gives the grip to corner and the smaller rear has less drag of a fatter tire and is easier to accelerate. The Kenda is around 740grams and the Mythos is 550. So thats about half a pound of rolling mass less. Easy number to remember 453.6grams = 1 pound

You can get a pair of Eggbeaters for 50-55 bucs (Supergo or Performance) and they weight 290gms. I'm sure those platforms are well over 500gms.
So you can save over 1/2 lb off the drivetrain.

You can prolly save close to a pound with just swapping that seat post but the question to ask yourself, is the extra lb worth the comfort.

Everything after these 3 parts will cost a bit more coin. Your next and biggest save will be the wheelset and fork (I can't which one you're running)

I hear you about the seatpost. I forgot to mention that's the one part I'm not willing to part with. That thing has made riding a hardtail possible and even enjoyable again and I totally prefer hardtails.

I'm running 2.4 Motoraptor's with Inner peace Kevlar linings. After I replace the rims i'm going to definitely run a lighter tube at least and will probably get a smaller tire for the rear for more rolling ease/acceleration like you say.- Thanks for the advice

The fork is just plain overkill. It has a 20mm through axle and there's a WTB DH hub on the front.

What's Super D? I've heard of that before but don't know what it involves? I though they only had XC/DH???

Quick lil HW and those 2.4 rubbers are about 800grams on each wheel. You can find alot of tires under 600grams and up to 2.25 if you still want the fattness. Check outhttp://weightweenies.starbike.com/listings.php to get a good idea of whats on your bike and where you can cut weight. The mythos are nice cuz when they are on sale, they are only 15 bucks. Good grip, good weight and cheap.

Super D is pretty much Downhilling with some climbs and no drops. Mix of XC and DH buit in one big sprint. A Super D race up at Big Bear is a 15-20 minute sprint down the mt. At Fontucky, the times are around 5-6 minutes so it's a very fast course. The DH course is mid 2 minutes.

This seems an awful lot of trouble for this race. Do you plan on riding more XC races in the future? Cuz it seems you got yourself a pretty nice purpose built machine already as is. If I were you I'd just get a used aluminium hardtail with anykind of fork on it and maybe even V-brakes to save the weight. That could probably be had for <$300 bucks easy. (yeah, I know, that's just more money)

We (CalPoly Pomona Cycling) had our Mad Max Classic collegiate race out in Fontana a few weeks ago. If the xc course follows the same general route ours did, you're in for some very steep climbs. Saving some weight would definitely be a good idea. The course is quite sandy, i'd recommend keeping a fat tire in front. Have fun!

SS friendly?

Originally Posted by PomonaKona

We (CalPoly Pomona Cycling) had our Mad Max Classic collegiate race out in Fontana a few weeks ago. If the xc course follows the same general route ours did, you're in for some very steep climbs. Saving some weight would definitely be a good idea. The course is quite sandy, i'd recommend keeping a fat tire in front. Have fun!

I plan on riding my single speed. Steep I don't mind I can always run for a short distance but, long and steep is another matter. Any comparisons to MT SAC or this past Bonelli race?

Southridge is a great course. Its mostly singletrack, well doubletrack after the traffic that goes through it, with 3 steep climbs in it. The scenery might not be the best but I think southridgeusa hosts a great race. I did all of the winter series last year and one of the spring series. They will sometimes change the course a bit but it stays the same for the most part.

I plan on riding my single speed. Steep I don't mind I can always run for a short distance but, long and steep is another matter. Any comparisons to MT SAC or this past Bonelli race?

Hell Ya its singlespeed friendly. Oh, and its not as sandy as when Cal Poly had their race. All the humidity and rains actually got stuff tacky. all though there is this one corner... ohhhh you'll find out soon enough.

Ok. I finally got my bike together. It's an '04 Rumble medium. All the parts are off a Weyless 67 freeride bike. Whole bike weighs 39 pounds according to the old bathroom scale. I am 5'10" 155 so this thing weighs about 1/3 my weight. ugggghh.

My bike needs a serious diet. As you might see, I already got an XTR rear derailleur from my friend and an XTR cassette. Also if anyone is interested in buying the wheel/rims/fork/cranks/pedals or handlebar/stem I'm willing to trade or sell for XC type components.

Anyone have any other recommendations on cutting weight?

There are cheap ways of cutting a surprising amount of weight. Lightweight tubes or tubeless conversion can save 1/2 pound. Foam grips, lighter tires (but don't go superlight), a lightweight Sette stem from pricepoint, any XC fork will lighten it substantially (look on ebay), Aireon seat from Supergo or a Forte from Performance ($30 or less and comfortable), Eggbeater pedals. If your components are coming from a freeride bike, then you can save weight almost everywhere, and most of the suggestions above are $30 or less. Also, Jenson USA has some killer deals going right now on some OEM XC rims for $89.

Thanks everyone. I know. I feel like right now I should enter the DH race, but I've had my share of concussions and trips to the emergency room and I've been training so i figured i'd put my training to good use in XC.

The wheels are where i'm starting. I'm going to be checking out the course, as it's drawn out on the geoladders site this weekend with a friend. I'll put up another post about how it is and what to expect.